Time to Move On

I started this post a week ago and just never had a chance to finish it so I’m getting it out today as I have a few more posts that I would like to get up soon. I will leave it as I wrote it last week.

It’s hard to believe that we have been here in Mission, TX for almost a month already. We have enjoyed our stay, but we are leaving on Monday February 1st and heading to Lajitas, TX via Eagle Pass, TX. Lajitas is about 650 miles northwest of here on the Rio Grande and next to Big Bend National Park. The RV Park we are staying at is a golf and spa resort although we will probably not take advantage of those amenities. There are very few RV parks to choose from in the Big Bend area and of the other two choices, one was full and the other got mixed reviews so we decided to stay at the resort. It will be cooler there with a couple nights predicted to go down in to the 20’s. Yikes!! We will be stopping halfway at Eagle Pass, TX where there is a casino that offers camping for $15.00 a night. Of course, by the time we are done in the casino, it will probably be more than that but that’s part of our adventure!

I thought I would recap our stay here at Bentsen Palms RV Resort and our thoughts on South Texas. Part of the reason we wanted to come to this area is that we have never been to this part of the country. Now that we have been here, we are glad that we made the trip. The weather has been up and down, but I guess that is to be expected in January. We arrived in the rain and cold and will be leaving in sunshine and 80 degree temperatures. During the month we have had weather everywhere in between with a lot of wind. If there is one weather condition to describe this place, for me it would be windy. All in all the temperature has been warmer than we would have had in Brunswick, GA, but not as warm as South Florida. There is less humidity than Florida though, which is nice.

The Mcallan/Mission Texas area is larger than I expected and has great shopping and dining options featuring many of the upscale chain restaurants and stores of larger cities. We tried to frequent many of the local establishments so that we could get a real flavor of the community. We thoroughly enjoyed it. I do have to say that the Mexican food here is fabulous. Actually, it is the best I have had to date. I do have to say that the jalapeno peppers are hotter than I have had anywhere else in the country. I’m not sure what it is, but something is different. They are HOT, HOT, HOT – even with the seeds removed. I tried to grill some wrapped in bacon and stuffed with a cream cheese mixture like I’ve had in Georgia and I ended up throwing them away as I couldn’t eat them. My mouth was literally on fire after the first one!

For those nature lovers and bike riders out there, this place offers a lot of choices. We are next to the World Birding Center and the National Butterfly Center. Staying in Bentsen Palms allows free admission to both these places and they are definatly worth the time. We saw lots of new species of birds and butterflies and just enjoyed the habitat in general. Our boat cruise on the Rio Grand was fun and educational as we have never been close to the southern border before. We tried to take as much in as possible because we’re not sure when we will return to this area. It is off the beaten path, and really has to be a destination. Same with Big Bend National Park. It’s in an out of the way place, and as a result, one of the least visited parks. We will have more on it later.

Montana and Sasha

As you can imagine the vast majority of the local people here are Hispanic and are very friendly. Most are bilingual, but we did run into a few people at the grocery store and at a couple of restaurants that either could not speak English or struggled with it. Hey- it was much better than my Spanish! As for as the RV’ers in the park – most are from the Midwest or Canada. We met folks from Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario to name a few. From what they have told us, they come here because it is closer and cheaper than Florida. I do have to say that our impression after being here for a month is that these folks are harder to get to know than those we have met in Florida. I’m really not sure why either. The park is certainly dog friendly and without a doubt has the best dog park we have encountered in all our travels. Montana will be sad to leave. He looks out the front window all the time to try to see if there are any dogs in the park to play with.